Clasp



June 19, 1956 T. ENGLAND CLASP Filed Sept. 19, 1952 INVENTOR. TH EODORE L. ENGLAND ATTORNEYS United States PatentC CLASP Theodore L. England, Providence, R. I., assignor to Ful- {ord Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Rhode sland Application September 19, 1952, Serial No. 310,435 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-153 This invention relates to a pocket case of the type generally referred to as a billfold but designed more particularly for holding cards.

An object of the invention is to provide a clasp which will hold assembled a plurality of folded members in desired relationship.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device by which the members may be easily assembled and retained in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a holding device which may be easily separated for the addition or subtraction of certain members should it be desired to increase or decrease the size of the case.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which may be detached at either of its ends and serve in a hinge fashion to remain connected at one of its ends should occasion so require.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the pocket case closed;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the pocket case in open position;

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 2 showing in dotted lines alternate positions of the holding device;

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective view in exploded relation of the clasp which holds the assembly of card containers together;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the under side of one of the parts of the clasp.

In proceeding with this invention, I have provided a plurality of members each folded once upon itself with the units in nesting relation and the folds of the units contiguous. In order to hold these folds in continguous relation during opening and closing of the case, i have provided a clasp consisting of a bar extending along the outer surface of the fold of the outer unit with arms at its ends projecting through the folds of all of the units and with these arms assembled with a keeper which may be detached from either or both of its ends and when detached at one end may swing about the attached other end in a hinging fashion.

With reference to the drawings, I have illustrated three units 10, 11, and 12, which are folded intermediate their ends as at 13, 14, and 15, each inner one having a nesting relation with the next outer one. The inner units 11 and 12 comprise transparent pockets 16 and 17 at each end into which cards may be slid so that they may be viewed through the transparent walls of the units. The outer unit is usually of leather having when folded a front wall 18 and a back wall 19 extending from the fold 20. The front wall 18 is equipped with a snap fastener, while the flap 21 which is secured to the end distant from :the fold .of the back wall 19 extends over the front wall 18 and is equipped with the companion portion of the snap fastener to engage with the portion on the wall 18 and serve to clasp the unit in folded position as shown in Figure 1.

In order to hold the units 10, 11 and 12 assembled along their fold lines 13, 14, and 15, I have provided a clasp which is shown in exploded relation in Figure 5 and designated generally 25. One portion 26 of this clasp comprises a bar 27 which extends along the outer fold 20 of the unit 10, while arms 28 and 29 which are usually formed integral with the bar 27 extend at right angles thereto passing through the folds 13, 14, and 15 as shown in Figure 4 with the end of the arm fashioned in the form of a ball 30 having a narrowed neck portion 31. The bar 27 is laterally arched throughout its length so that the same will be stiffened. A keeper designated generally 81 comprises a piece of sheet stock folded into generally channel shape providing a back wall 32 and opposite side walls 33 and 34. These walls are spaced at their ends as at 35 and the portions projecting beyond the ends of the back wall 32 are rounded and enlarged slightly providing gripping jaws 36 and 37 which are outwardly deflected at 38 to provide a portion of a sphere of substantially the same radius as the ball 3% The spacing 35 of these portions 36 and 37 permits of sufiicient resilience between them so that these portions may be snapped into engagement with the ball by applying pressure until the ball sets in the outwardly deflected portions 38 as may be seen in Figure 4. A resilient arm 41 also formed as one piece with the wall 33 is folded across the space between the walls as at 39 and is of a width dimension so that its end 40 will extend between the walls 33 and 34 but will bulge outwardly beyond the walls at 41 to apply pressure to the units 11 and 12, forcing them against the unit 10 which is backed up by the bar 27.

As I have shown in Figure 3, one of the ends of the keeper 81 may be detached from the arm 28 and swung about the arm 29 or the keeper may be detached from the arm 29 and swung about the arm 28 both as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. It will, of course, be apparent that both ends of the keeper may be detached for the removal of one of the units such as 12 or the addition of a unit similar to the unit 12 by removing the same from the arms, or if addition to a unit is desired by placing the same on the arms. By this arrangement of complete detachment of the bar 27 and the keeper 81, as sembly may be had very quickly either at the time of initial forming of the case by the manufacturer or by the user should he desire to insert or remove the cardholding units as may frequently occur.

I claim:

1. A clasp for fastening sheets of material comprising a generally U-shaped member having two upstanding arms extending from a support means, said arms terminating in ball-shaped studs, a keeper generally channel shaped in cross section providing walls and a connecting bridge, said walls projecting lengthwise beyond the bridge thereof forming resilient end portions, each of said end portions adapted to grasp the ball-shaped studs, either of said studs selectively serving as a hinge to swing the keeper about one end when detached at its opposite end.

2. A clasp as in claim 1 wherein the resilient end portions are bulged outwardly to form a portion of a sphere.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Radford et a1 Dec. 3, 1901 Wright July 7, 1903 Loewenbach July 19, 1910 Gagnier Feb. 13, 1923 Boyens Feb. 26, 1935 4 V Tinnerman Apr. 29, 1941 Broughton Feb. 6, 1951 Broughton Mar. 29, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Oct. 24, 1912 France Feb. 15, 1952 

